Orrick Advises Daiwa on its Entry into U.S. Renewables Market

February.28.2022

We advised Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure Co. Ltd (DEI) in its strategic co-investment and co-development partnership with Solariant Capital, a California-based renewable energy investment and development company. The partnership will focus on developing Solariant’s portfolio of U.S. renewable energy projects and acquisition of other development-stage pipeline projects. The initial project pipeline consists of early stage solar + storage projects with over 1.0 GWac of solar and 2.5 GWh of BESS projects under development across the Southeast and Southwest U.S.

This transaction marks DEI’s first renewable energy investment in the United States, aligning strategically with their objective to aggressively expand their U.S. portfolio and accelerate development efforts across renewables markets and energy + storage project development. The partnership also aims to realize Daiwa’s ongoing efforts to contribute to the creation of a sustainable future and achieving climate action goals. DEI is an energy investment arm of Daiwa Securities Group, one of the largest security companies in Japan.

The Orrick team was led by a cross-border, bilingual Tokyo/U.S. team including Minako Wakabayashi, Neil Golden and Andrew Hughes and lead associate Iris Zhang, together with Scott Cockerham (Tax), Darrell Thomas (Real Estate), Adam Wenner (Regulatory), Cory Lankford (Regulatory) and Sue Cowell (Environmental).

Related Lawyers

Minako Wakabayashi Partner, Renewable Energy, Infrastructure

Tokyo

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D:+81 3 3224 2926
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Energy & Infrastructure Sector
Renewable Energy
Infrastructure
Energy
Japan

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Minako Wakabayashi Partner

Tokyo

Minako has significant experience advising international and domestic sponsors and developers on complex and innovative projects. She was called upon by the Japanese government in structuring the renewable Feed-in-Tariff scheme in Japan and prepared the government’s model contracts for specific contracts (power purchase contract/interconnection contract), which are a key component of the Feed-in-Tariff scheme in Japan. Recently, she has also been handling numerous corporate PPA projects.

She was appointed as Auditor of the Japan Wind Power Association (JWPA) in May 2022.

Minako practiced at Orrick’s New York office in 2004-2005. She also worked as a public prosecutor in Japan for four years and served as a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Supervising Committee for Public Bidding (Tokyo-to Nyusatsu Kanshi Iinkai) for eight years. She is serving as Audit of Veritas In Silico Inc since March 2022.

Neil Golden Partner, Mergers and Acquisitions, Energy

Washington, D.C.

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D:+1 202 339 8467
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Energy & Infrastructure Sector
Mergers and Acquisitions
Energy
Infrastructure

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Neil Golden Partner

Washington, D.C.

In recent years, Neil has worked extensively on transactions involving the acquisition and divestiture of both companies and assets, as well as the development and financing of renewable energy projects involving wind, solar, biomass and fuel cells, and on alternative fuels projects in the ethanol industry. He served as lead counsel for the sale of a large distributed solar, fuel cell and residential solar portfolio, named “2019 M&A Deal of the Year” by Power Finance & Risk Magazine. He has also worked extensively on the development and financing of conventional power generation facilities.

His corporate and financing experience has included representation of clients in syndicated bank financings, financings by multilateral and bilateral agencies, Rule 144A debt offerings, sale-leaseback financings, construction loans, formation of joint ventures and partnerships, equity investments, and the purchase and sale of equity interests in projects.

Internationally, Neil has represented sponsors of power projects and electric distribution companies in a number of countries including Brazil, Argentina, Jamaica, Honduras, Bangladesh, Nepal, Colombia, Turkey, the Dominican Republic and the People’s Republic of China.

Andrew Hughes Of Counsel, Energy, Infrastructure

Tokyo

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D:+81 3 3224 2814
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Energy & Infrastructure Sector
Energy
Infrastructure
Renewable Energy
Real Estate
Japan

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Andrew Hughes Of Counsel

Tokyo

Andrew also has significant experience advising on sophisticated real estate and asset finance transactions involving global opportunity funds, banks and other financial institutions.

Prior to joining Orrick’s Energy and Infrastructure Group, Andrew was an in-house counsel at GREE Inc. and Electronic Arts where he gained experience in various corporate and commercial transactions, including joint ventures, cross-border M&A and general corporate matters.

Not Admitted in Japan.